Research Claims Hispanics Leaving Catholicism for Protestantism

A survey claims that Hispanics in the United States are turning away from their Catholic roots reports Charisma News.

According to the Pew Research Center's findings, 55 percent of Hispanics identified as Catholic in 2013, a drop of 13 percent in only three years.

At the same time, more Hispanics are identifying as Protestant and unaffiliated with a church. 16 percent of Hispanics called themselves evangelical Protestants, a rise of 12 percent from 2010. And 8 percent of Hispanics consider themselves unaffiliated; the previous statistic was 10 percent.

Of the people who classified themselves as Protestant attend Pentecostal churches, often favoring the emotionally moving services.

About 74 percent of the 5,103 Hispanics surveyed reported being raised Catholic.

Loyola Marymount University theology professor Allan Figueroa Deck said, “It does represent what has been a wake-up call for Catholicism for several decades now.”

Very few Hispanics surveyed identified as atheist or agnostic, at only 3 percent.

“We’re much more outsiders than probably any other Latino group,” said Chicago Latino Atheists founder Jose Alvarado.

Alvarado believes that Hispanic people today have doubts about Christianity, but are afraid to admit it in a hugely religious culture.